Monthly Archives: June 2013

The Church On A Knife Edge

Bible Study, , ,

THE CHURCH ON A KNIFE EDGE

“As they were sent off and on their way, they told everyone they met about the breakthrough to the Gentile outsiders. Everyone who heard the news cheered — it was terrific news!

“When they got to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were graciously received by the whole church, including the apostles and leaders. They reported on their recent journey and how God had used them to open things up to the outsiders. Some Pharisees stood up to say their piece. They had become believers but continued to hold to the hard party line of the Pharisees. ‘You have to circumcise the pagan converts,’ they said, ‘You must make them keep the Law of Moses.'” Acts 15:3-5 (The Message).

This Jew/Gentile thing was a really sensitive issue in the early church. It was the subject of the first general church council recorded in Acts15. The leaders of the infant church had to deal with issues as they arose, some of which were relatively simple matters of administration, for example, the neglect of the Greek widows in Acts 6, and some with far more significant matters of understanding regarding the work of Jesus.

Jesus had chosen twelve men to be with Him so that they could learn His yoke. It would be their responsibility to interpret and apply His yoke when He was no longer there, and that was what they were doing now. The Pharisees in the church in Jerusalem were speaking out of turn because they were not part of the original group of men trained by Jesus. They had not lived with Him intimately and understood His heart and the heart of the Father.

God’s intention, from the beginning, was to work through one nation whom He called into fellowship with Himself in a marriage covenant, to reveal Him to the whole world. He had taught them His Word, a way of life that would reflect His nature and requirements for people who belonged to Him.

However, the Jews misinterpreted God’s intention, believing themselves to be superior to the Gentiles, despising them and isolating themselves from them. The Pharisees in particular, hated Jesus because He showed them that God loved and accepted all people. They were so stuck on the letter of the Law of Moses, regardless of the fact that they didn’t obey it themselves, that they could not embrace the real meaning of God’s plan. He dealt with sin through Jesus’ sacrifice, once for all, so that all people, Jews and Gentiles, could come to the Father without having to do anything but believe.

It was important for the apostles to decide what the yoke of Jesus was in this situation — His interpretation of the heart and disposition of the Father which He both taught and practised. It was not a matter of thumb sucking, but of examining the evidence and reaching a conclusion based on what they saw and heard from Jesus as well as what was happening in their current situation.

There would be another important spin-off from the outcome of this meeting. It was imperative that the church remain united. It would be a serious matter if some were teaching one thing and others another. In the early days of the church they had worked hard to keep the unity in their relationships with one another. Now a far more serious and sinister issue had arisen — which had the potential to splinter the church around doctrines that hit at the very heart of their faith.

How relevant this is for the church today! Over the centuries the church has become fragmented over this very issue — what is the yoke of Jesus? Had church leaders only stuck to the criteria of Jesus Himself, His words and His ways, and a passion to keep the unity of the Spirit instead of allowing reason and opinions to dominate them, perhaps the prayer of Jesus, “that they may be one”, would be much nearer to being answered than it appears now.

Stick With Jesus

Christian Life, , ,

STICK WITH JESUS

“It wasn’t long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised.’If you’re not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can’t be saved.’ Paul and Barnabas were up on their feet at once in fierce protest. The church decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul and Barnabas, and a few others, to put it before the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem.” Acts 15:1-2 (The Message).

Why the fuss? Such an insignificant matter! Who cares whether men are circumcised or not? What difference does a small surgical procedure make to their salvation?

A small matter but a very a big issue! It was big enough for Paul to write a letter to the Galatian believers to deliver a heated protest against a teaching which would undermine the very foundation of their salvation. It was serious enough for the church leaders to take action immediately, to nip in the bud a practice that would undo the finished work of Jesus for those who submitted to circumcision, and take them back into self-effort, slavery and failure.

A whole world of meaning was packed into Jesus’ final words on the cross: ‘It is finished.’ His death and resurrection put an end to all the demands of the Law as a way of being acceptable to God. Even if we obeyed God perfectly in every detail of what He expects of us from now on, (which is impossible anyway), we still have the problem of our past and the guilt we have incurred by disobeying God.

Jesus offered Himself up to God as an atoning sacrifice and His offering was accepted as the morally perfect Lamb who took our place because He had no sin of His own to die for. What He did was enough and complete, and we cannot and must not try to improve on it by adding anything to what He has done.

These Jews, who were insisting that Gentiles adopt the old covenant given to His people at Mount Sinai by being circumcised, were saying, in effect, that the sacrifice of Jesus was insufficient to satisfy God’s justice. To make His work effective, we have to add to what Jesus did by trying to keep the Law.

Whatever we add to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross nullifies His work and puts us back under obligation to fulfil all the requirements of the old covenant. We cannot pick and choose what we will do and what we won’t do. The agreement God entered into with His people at Mount Sinai was a package deal and demands perfect obedience to every detail.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who has let himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.” Galatians 5:1-3 (NIV).

What is your “circumcision” that you have added to Jesus’ complete work on the cross, to make His salvation effective for you? Do you have to carry out rituals, obey dietary laws, observe special days or seasons, “work for Jesus”, or do anything to get God’s attention or to win His approval instead of just being His son or daughter?

If you do, you are outside the reach of God’s grace. “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” Galatians 5:4 (NIV).

What is the real issue here? It’s the attitude of our hearts. Are we slaves or sons? Slaves have to work hard to please their master. Sons are free just to be sons. “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:6-7 (NIV).

A Job Well Done

Christian Life, , ,

A JOB WELL DONE

“Paul and Barnabas handpicked leaders in each church. After praying — their prayers intensified by fasting — they presented these new leaders to the Master to whom they had entrusted their lives. Working their way back through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia and preached in Perga. Finally, they made it to Attalia and caught a ship back to Antioch, where it had all started — launched by God’s grace and now safely home by God’s grace. A good piece of work.

“On arrival they got the church together and reported on their trip, telling in detail how God had used them to throw the door of faith wide open so people of all nations could come streaming in. Then they settled down for a long, leisurely visit with the disciples.” Acts 14:23-28 (The Message).

“Life is lived forward and understood backwards,” Many months before, two rookie missionaries set out from Antioch. They had no mission board behind them, no regularly monthly stipend paid into their bank accounts, no cell phones or email to keep them in contact with home base, just them and the Holy Spirit in them.

Now they were back home, back in the safety and comfort of their circle of brothers and sisters, reporting on both harrowing and joyful experiences which were all in a day’s work for two courageous pioneers. What did they tell them back home? What were their greatest moments on their journey through unknown territory, both geographically and spiritually?

It seems. not a word about their suffering! Did they have enough to eat? How did they get from town to town? Where did they sleep? Who did their laundry? Who cared for them when they got sick? No. They returned to their home church to report on the work God had accomplished through them. They joyfully shared their story of a wide open door for Gentiles to enter God’s kingdom through faith in Jesus.

King George VI once quoted these words in his New Year message: “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, ‘Give me a lamp that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ He said to me, ‘Put your hand in the hand of God. That will be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.'”

Paul and Barnabas surely found those words to be profoundly true. A long look backwards revealed the hand of a faithful God on them in spite of suffering and hardship. Fogotten were the weary days, the cold nights, the steep and stony roads, the growling stomachs and the taunts and cruel words of unbelievers. It was the memory of the God who sustained them and carried them through, the God who openend hearts and gathered peopleinto His kingdom, that filled them with joy.

We may not be facing the trials and troubles that Paul and Barnabas had to embrace to do their Master’s will. By comparison, our lives may seem cushy but, nevertheless, each one of us has his or her testing to endure. The same God who sustained them is with us on our journey, but our experience of him depends on our perspective as it did their. They did not dwell on the hardships. Those were part of the package to toughen them up to reach their goal.

After all he want through, this was Paul’s perspective: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen it temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV).

Anchored In Truth

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ANCHORED IN TRUTH

“After proclaiming the Message in Derbe and establishing a strong core of disciples, they retraced their steps to Lystra, then Iconium, then Antioch, putting muscle and sinew into the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not to quit, making it clear to them that it wouldn’t be easy. ‘Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.'” Acts 14:21-22 (The Message).

How would you tackle the mammoth task of penetrating a completely pagan society with a message that made no sense and was being actively opposed by unruly mobs of fanatically religious Jews who were out to kill you? Call it a day and go home, probably!

What guarantee did Paul and Barnabas have that the converts would not quit the moment their backs were turned? Why should these people stick with believing a story about a Jew who said and did some extraordinary things, was executed as a criminal and then came back to life again? What proof did they have that this was all true?

Unlike religions, which are man-made belief systems, Paul and Barnabas were in partnership with God Himself. When people received the Message, something supernatural happened: their unresponsive spirits were made alive to God; their minds were enlightened by the truth and they were joined to Jesus by the Holy Spirit. God Himself took up residence in their spirits and they were in direct communication with Him.

They may not have had the written Word of God in their hands as we have today, but they had the Living Word in their hearts. Paul and Barnabas had a limitless confidence in the power of God to sustain every believer and keep them following the Master. It was their task to teach, exhort and encourage them to persevere, and those who were truly made new by God’s Spirit stuck with their new faith and passed it on to those around them.

Jesus gave His disciples the assurance that He would build His church. Their commission was to make disciples, not converts, by passing on everything they had learned from Jesus. For Paul and Barnabas to evangelise was only half the task. It was imperative that they thoroughly ground their converts in God’s Word — the Law and the Prophets — to ensure that their faith had a firm foundation in truth, not fantasy.

Paul and Barnabas did their best to imprint that Word into the new disciples and, to their delight, as they retraced their steps from town to town, they found people who were committed to the Faith they had received, regardless of the price they had to pay. They learned that the grace of God is free but it is not cheap. They had received the free gift of eternal life but with it came the refining process of hardship and trouble which would prepare them for lives that bore witness to the power of Jesus at work in them.

Those of us who have a shepherding role to play in the church have an example to follow in these two stalwart missionaries who never gave up, no matter how tough the way, and who faithfully taught the Word of God to the converts until they became disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, committed to Him as their Rabbi to stick with Him, learn from Him and imitate Him so that others, in turn, would also follow.

Our role is not to propagate a religion but to invite people to become followers of Jesus, to be united to Him and to navigate this life with Him as He takes us to the Father.

Out Of The Black Hole

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OUT OF THE BLACK HOLE

“‘In the generations before us, God let all the different nations go their own way. But even then He didn’t leave them without a clue, for He made a good creation, poured down rain and gave bumper crops. When your bellies were full and your hearts happy, there was evidence of good beyond your doing.’ Talking fast and hard like that, they prevented them from carrying out the sacrifice that would have honoured them as gods — but just barely.” Acts 14:16-18 (The Message).

Strange what humans can come up with when they deny and let go of the truth! When superstition takes the place of reality, reason and common sense go out of the window. Gods becoming men has no foundation in fact and no evidence to prove that it could or did happen. Why? Because gods do not exist. They are the fruit of perverted human imagination.

But what about Jesus? Wasn’t He God come to earth as a man? A thousand times, yes! So what’s the difference? The difference is, firstly, that God exists. We have the evidence of creation, its design and unity, and the goodness and blessing we receive from it, not as concrete proof but as evidence of a Being of supreme goodness, power and wisdom who exists and who created the universe.

Secondly, we have the evidence of prophecy. God’s entire plan was laid out in detail centuries before it happened. If God prompted men to write about it accurately in advance, He must exist. How else can anyone explain prophecy?

Thirdly, we have the resurrection. The greatest legal minds have worked hard to disprove the resurrection but the evidence is overwhelming. Jesus died on a Roman execution stake and three days later He walked out of the tomb. He appeared to over five hundred people in a body that could be touched, that could eat and yet was able to do more than our mortals bodies can do.

Fourthly, how can we explain the church if there were no God, no Jesus and no Holy Spirit? Without the supernatural power of God at work in people, convincing them of the truth and changing their lives, no one would have bought the apostles’ story. It was too far-fetched if it were not true and too dangerous to embrace a fantasy that could cost them their lives in a hostile world.

Fifthly, what about the Bible? Both internal and external evidence points to a unique book which cannot be explained apart from God. It was written over a period of 2000 years by more than 40 different authors from many walks of life and yet it is a comprehensive story and presents a unified picture of a God whom human imagination could never invent.

There is one factor that is missing in most of the people who hear the apostle’s message — faith — not a leap-in-the-dark kind of faith but a rational acceptance of the evidence and a step towards God to which He immediately responds.

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible….And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:3, 6 (NIV).

What is it that prevents people from accepting the overwhelming evidence of a God who is both powerful and loving and passionately desires a relationship with His human creation? It’s that stubborn independence woven into our nature through Adam’s choice that refuses to come under His authority and live His way.

But when we do, we find, to our absolute amazement and delight, that life makes sense, has meaning and purpose and is filled with joy and peace that makes no sense and has no explanation outside of God. It’s like stepping out of a black hole into the glorious light of the midday sun.